Tommy Jones wins No. 1 qualifying berth for PBA Bear Open finals

    05/21/14

    2014 PBA Tour #4

    14-time PBA Tour champion is feeling healthy, eager to end six-year U.S. title drought

    2014PBATommyJones.jpg2014PBABillONeill.jpgOne day after missing the stepladder finals of the PBA Wolf Open by four pins, 14-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion Tommy Jones (pictured left) of Simpsonville, S.C., raced away with the top qualifying berth for the finals of the PBA Bear Open at FireLake Bowling Center Tuesday.

    Jones, who hasn't won a PBA Tour title on American soil since the 2008 GEICO Championship in West Babylon, N.Y., averaged 220.5 for 12 games on the most difficult of the Oklahoma's Grand Casino Resort PBA Summer Swing lane conditioning patterns, a flat 40-foot condition that is almost identical to the U.S. Open lane oiling pattern.

    Jones finished with a 2,646 pinfall total to top No. 2 qualifier Bill O'Neill (above right) of Langhorne, Pa., by 24 pins.

    2014PBARonnieRussell.jpg201213PBARhinoPage.jpgAlso advancing to the Bear Open stepladder finals Saturday will be No. 3 Ronnie Russell (left) of Marion, Ind., with 2,620 pins; Rhino Page (right) of Dad City, Fla., with 2,608 pins and No. 5 Dick Allen (below left) of Columbia, S.C., with a 2,606 total.

    The Bear Open finals will be contested at 2:30 p.m. CT on the special lane installation at the Grand Event Center. The finals will air on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday, June 10, at 7 p.m. ET.

    Pacing the Bear field was a bit of redemption for Jones after Monday's disappointing finish.

    201213PBADickAllen2.jpg"It wasn't the finish that bothered me as much as I threw a couple of shots into the gutter and missed the TV show by four pins," he said. "Leaving those pins out there is what leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

    Jones also is aware it's been six years since he has won a title in the U.S. He has won three times in PBA International Tour events since then, but overcoming hip and neck injuries over the past five-or-so years has been frustrating.

    "To win in the U.S. is definitely a goal, and to go in feeling healthy is a good thing," he added. "Some of my problems have been bad bowling, some has been being overly cautious about my health issues. But so far this week, everything's been good."

    The Bear Open is the second of five events that compose Oklahoma's Grand Casino Resort PBA Summer Swing. All five events will be televised on CBS Sports Network on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. ET, beginning with the Wolf Open on June 3.

    The Bear Open also was the second of three qualifying legs in determining the field of 18 who will advance to the round-robin match play segment of the Oklahoma Open.

    2014EBT04DominicBarrett.jpgAfter 12 of 18 qualifying games, the top five were Dom Barrett (left), England, 2,744; Jones, 2,741; Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2,737; Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,722, and Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2,721.

    The first six games in Wednesday's Badger Open will determine the Oklahoma Open match play finalists.

    The Badger Open, which features a 52-foot lane conditioning pattern, gets underway Wednesday when Squad A bowls six qualifying games at 8 a.m. followed by Squad B at 2 p.m. The top 18 after six games advance to an additional six-game qualifying round at 7:30 p.m. to determine the five Badger Open stepladder finalists.

    All preliminary rounds of the PBA Wolf, Bear and Badger Opens, plus match play rounds of the Oklahoma Open (Thursday and Friday) are being covered live on PBA's online bowling channel, Xtra Frame.

     


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    PBA Bear Open - Second Round Qualifying


    Players with position, hometown and 12-game total; top 5 advance to stepladder finals Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT; places 6-18 show earnings

    1, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2,646
    2, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2,622
    3, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2,620
    4, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 2,608
    5, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 2,606

    Missed Cut:
    6, Dom Barrett, England, 2,553, $2,000
    7, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2,551, $1,800
    8, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., 2,543, $1,600
    9, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 2,529, $1,400
    10, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2,528, $1,300
    11, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 2,527, $1,200
    12, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2,525, $1,100
    13, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 2,487, $1,000
    14, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 2,483, $900
    15, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 2,469, $800
    16, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 2,468, $700
    17, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 2,456, $600
    18, John Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 2,420, $500

    300 Games - none.

     


    PBA Oklahoma Open after 12 of 18 qualifying games


    The top 18 after Wednesday's Badger Open qualifying round advance to round-robin match play Thursday and Friday. * non PBA member

    1, Dom Barrett, England, 2744
    2, Tommy Jones, Simpsonville, S.C., 2741
    3, Mike Fagan, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2737
    4, Bill O'Neill, Langhorne, Pa., 2722
    5, Chris Barnes, Double Oak, Texas, 2721
    6, Tom Smallwood, Saginaw, Mich., 2708
    7, Ryan Shafer, Horseheads, N.Y., 2681
    8, Tom Daugherty, Wesley Chapel, Fla., 2671
    8, E.J. Tackett, Huntington, Ind., 2671
    10, Sean Rash, Montgomery, Ill., 2669
    11, Mika Koivuniemi, Hartland, Mich., 2650
    12, Dave Wodka, Henderson, Nev., 2649
    13, Chris Loschetter, Avon, Ohio, 2640
    14, Dick Allen, Columbia, S.C., 2639
    15, Jason Belmonte, Australia, 2631
    16, Mike Wolfe, New Albany, Ind., 2625
    17, Roger Petrin, BelAire, Kan., 2622
    18, Ronnie Russell, Marion, Ind., 2620

    19, Jason Sterner, Covington, Ga., 2608
    20, Thomas Larsen, Denmark, 2601
    21, Shawn Maldonado, Houston, 2595
    22, Mike DeVaney, Winchester, Calif., 2587
    23, Dan MacLelland, Canada, 2582
    23, Martin Larsen, Sweden, 2582
    25, Wes Malott, Pflugerville, Texas, 2578
    26, Pete Weber, St. Ann, Mo., 2575
    26, Marshall Kent, Yakima, Wash., 2575
    28, Osku Palermaa, Finland, 2573
    29, D.J. Archer, Friendswood, Texas, 2570
    30, John Ferraro, Kingston, N.Y., 2569
    31, Anthony Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2565
    32, Clara Guerrero, Colombia, 2559
    33, Kelly Kulick, Union, N.J., 2556
    34, Norm Duke, Clermont, Fla., 2552
    35, David Haynes, Las Vegas, 2538
    36, James Cantere*, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2533
    37, Brad Miller, St. Charles, Mo., 2532
    38, Dino Castillo, Carrollton, Texas, 2531
    39, Rhino Page, Dade City, Fla., 2524
    40, Jesse Buss, Belvidere, Ill., 2523
    40, Connor Pickford, Charlotte, N.C., 2523
    42, Andrew Graff, Las Vegas, 2522
    43, Scott Norton, Mission Viejo, Calif., 2520
    44, Shannon O'Keefe*, Arlington, Texas, 2515
    44, Tyler Jensen, Ft. Worth, Texas, 2515
    46, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Ocala, Fla., 2514
    47, Adam Monks, Conway, S.C., 2509
    48, Sean Swanson, Springfield, Mo., 2501
    48, Ildemaro Ruiz, Venezuela, 2501
    48, Sean Lavery-Spahr, Pasadena, Texas, 2501
    51, Bryant Ezell*, Fayetteville, Ark., 2499
    52, Nathan Bohr, Wichita, Kan., 2496
    53, Scott Newell, Deland, Fla., 2490
    54, Tim Mack, Indianapolis, 2478
    55, John Szczerbinski, North Tonawanda, N.Y., 2477
    56, Billy Rogers, Mesquite, Texas, 2475
    57, Aaron Lorincz, Saginaw, Mich., 2471
    58, Brad Angelo, Lockport, N.Y., 2467
    58, Ryan Ciminelli, Cheektowaga, N.Y., 2467
    58, Joe Paluszek, Bensalem, Pa., 2467
    61, Brian Valenta, Lockport, Ill., 2461
    62, Johnathan Bower, Middletown, Pa., 2454
    63, Andres Gomez, Colombia, 2449
    64, Jeff Campbell II, Amarillo, Texas, 2446
    65, Lee Vanderhoef, Greenville, S.C., 2433
    66, Stephen Pavlinko Jr., Sewell, N.J., 2431
    67, Giorgio Clinaz Jr., Venezuela, 2430
    68, Anthony Simonsen, Mesquite, Texas, 2424
    69, Stuart Williams, England, 2416
    70, Anthony LaCaze, Melrose Park, Ill., 2407
    71, Parker Bohn III, Jackson, N.J., 2405
    72, Missy Parkin, Laguna Hills, Calif., 2403
    73, John Burkett, Southlake, Texas, 2400
    74, Craig Nidiffer, Trenton, Mich., 2398
    74, Eugene McCune, Munster, Ind., 2398
    76, Brian Kretzer, Dayton, Ohio, 2394
    77, Michael Haugen Jr., Phoenix, 2390
    78, Julio Cesar Blancas, Mexico, 2383
    79, Mike Edwards, Tulsa, Okla., 2370
    80, Miguel Lopez, Wichita, Kan., 2364
    81, Jake Peters, Henderson, Nev., 2360
    82, Barry McKee, Maxwell, Texas, 2357
    82, Humberto Vazquez, Mexico, 2357
    84, Manuel Otalora, Colombia, 2351
    85, Kenneth Bland Jr., Lorton, Va., 2347
    86, Clint Land, Richmond, Texas, 2345
    87, Brett Cooper, Denver, 2343
    88, Brian Robinson, Morgantown, W.Va., 2331
    88, Chris Skillings, Shawnee, Okla., 2331
    90, Josh Blanchard, Mesa, Ariz., 2328
    91, Dylan Macon*, Ennis, Texas, 2327
    92, Joe Findling, Mesquite, Texas, 2312
    93, John Furey, Freehold, N.J., 2304
    94, Eric Odette*, Killeen, Texas, 2290
    95, Tim Dooley, Van Buren, Ark., 2289
    96, Dale Renken, St. Jacob, Ill., 2281
    97, Andy Patterson, Tyler, Texas, 2278
    98, Chad Lusche, Arvada, Colo., 2276
    99, Michael Austin, Magnolia, Texas, 2275
    100, Jeff Hatt*, Oklahoma City, 2271
    100, Jason Poli, West Des Moines, Iowa, 2271
    102, Paul Brewbaker, Midwest City, Okla., 2265
    103, Hernan Ramirez, Venezuela, 2262
    103, Tom Hess, Urbandale, Iowa, 2262
    105, Thomas Patterson, Owasso, Okla., 2250
    106, Greg Ostrander, Freehold, N.J., 2234
    107, Brian Nicodemus, Akron, Ind., 2204
    108, Kyle Biggs*, Sapulpa, Okla., 2180
    109, Mark Morgan, Killeen, Texas, 2171
    110, Gary Faulkner Jr., Memphis, Tenn., 2146
    111, Jason Romeiser, Quanah, Texas, 2107
    112, Justin Morris*, McLoud, Okla., 2085
    113, Will Hoge, Sand Springs, Okla., 2073
    114, Armando Santacruz, Ecuador, 1908
    115, Jayden Warner*, Muskogee, Okla., 1884

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